The town of Foxborough is normally centered around the New England Patriots, but this Summer the World Cup has moved in and borrowed Gillette Stadium, now being called Boston Stadium. However, even with the World Cup, the Patriots and Kraft Group can’t be ignored.
The Patriots and owner Robert Kraft have filed a lawsuit against Foxborough, per Boston 25 News. The lawsuit is over licensing fees of nearly $1 million, and it was filed in Norfolk Superior Court on Monday, June 15th.
In the lawsuit, Kraft claims, “The town repeatedly misused its state-granted licensing authority to unlawfully extract funds.”
The complaint states that Foxborough has the right to charge the plaintiffs, who are the Patriots and Kraft in this case, a maximum fee of $100 annually to renew the stadium’s entertainment license.
“Foxborough has refused to provide an entertainment license for Gillette Stadium that is not ‘conditioned’ on Plaintiffs writing new, seven-figure checks to the Town, even though there is no basis in the parties’ contracts or in the law for such charges,” the complaint read.
A stadium spokesperson spoke to ESPN on Tuesday, trying to explain the situation.
“For more than two decades, the Town of Foxborough and Gillette Stadium have worked cooperatively and thoughtfully to license events at Gillette Stadium, contributing to the success of the stadium, the Town, and the region,” the spokesperson said. “Earlier this year, the Town renewed the stadium’s annual event license on significantly different terms.”
The stadium itself is owned and privately funded by Kraft. While the Patriots are the best-known tenant of Gillette Stadium, for whom a license is required, they’re far from the only use that it receives.
Foxborough Sent the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, a Six-Figure Invoice
GettyNew England Patriots owner Robert Kraft
The town of Foxborough reportedly sent the New England Patriots and Kraft Group an invoice for $953,640. The complaint would describe that as the cost of an additional annual charge” for renewal.
The complaint further went on to say that the salary and benefits of a police lieutenant, whose job would be to run a “special operations division,” as well as 75% of an employee who was designated for “drone mitigation,” were among the expenses.
The complaint further went on to state that Foxborough had previously charged the Patriots $500,000 in administrative charges for entertainment license renewal. Then, there was around $1 million in a recent invoice, which was in addition to another $4 million previously paid.
“No town has ever interpreted [the relevant portion of Massachusetts state law] to allow a town to make a license responsible for part of the town’s public safety payroll as a ‘condition’ of obtaining an entertainment license,” the lawsuit said.
Robert Kraft Agreed to Help Foxborough Cover Security Costs for the World Cup
GettyThe Norway team celebrates at Boston Stadium in the World Cup
Gillette Stadium is in the process of hosting seven World Cup games. With that comes plenty of extra security, which Patriots owner Robert Kraft agreed to help the town of Foxborough cover back in March.
That decision ended what had been some extensive public tension between the Patriots and Foxborough. At one point, there was concern that the battle would even cost Gillette Stadium as a hosting venue. Despite that, this lawsuit filed on Monday does not reference the World Cup.
Central to that dispute was around $8 million. That was money Foxborough said would be essential to pay the local police force during the World Cup.
Gillette Stadium has already hosted two World Cup games. The first of which was a Scotland win over Haiti. Later, on June 16th, Norway would beat Iraq. Another five games are scheduled to be played there, with the next game on June 19th between Scotland and Morocco.
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